Preview – Lezyne Micro Floor Drive XL

The Lezyne MFD/XL nestled in the belly of Otis’s Becker Sewing Frame Bag

Back in March we shared the news that the winner of our fat pump shootout was getting fatter and today we’re happy to share our first impressions of the brand new Lezyne Micro Floor Drive XL (MFD/XL). The pump came into the test labs and found it’s home in Otis’s new Custom Frame Bag from the One and Only Tupper Becker out of Fairbanks AK. When Tupper was working on the bag, we talked about this new version of the Lezyne MFD and he included some longer pump straps along with just about every other bell and whistle that we could think up. The pump is 303mm long and weighs 363 grams.

This article is more or less a “first look” at the MFD/XL and the results of how we put it through it’s paces, based on the testing parameters that we used in the pump shootout we published last year. One significant difference between last year’s test and this test is the size of the tire used in this test is smaller that what we had on hand last year. It doesn’t invalidate this test, although it’s a variable to keep in mind, if you want to compare a stroke by stroke analysis. We start the test with a brand new tube that gets stuffed inside a Vittoria 26 x 4.0 Bomboloni, mounted to a Surly Marge Light Rim.

After the first 20 Pump Cycles, the tube is ready to go into the tire.

80 Pump Cycles and the beads have slipped into place.

After 100 carefully executed complete cycles of the MFD/XL we had 9.0 PSI

The pumps that we previously had tested were well into the 200+ cycles to pump up a slightly larger tire (Vee Bulldozer) to only 7 PSI. The new pump inflated the slightly smaller Bomboloni up to 9 PSI in 100 cycles. The MFD/XL has a larger air chamber and it moves more air per stroke than any of the other pump that we’ve tested. More air volume per stroke also means that the MFD/XL is a little harder to push through the complete cycle. It’s not super hard, but it’s something that I noticed. The valve and hose of the Lezyne are still the best in the market. The thread on valve is easily converted from presta to schrader and can be used with confidence even with gloves. The valve also has a bleed button to tune the pressure down if you choose. The larger handle on the XL is more comfortable that it’s smaller Lezyne counterpart, but I’ve tested pumps with more comfortable handles. I like the fact that when I use this pump, I didn’t lose any air when I removed the chuck to place the tube into the tire or take the final PSI reading. The last thing that you want, when it’s freezing or the mosquitoes are swarming, is to have your pump let air escape, when the focus of the exercise is to insert air and get back on the trail.

So the final take of this first look, it that the MFD/XL lived up to our expectations that it would fill a fat-bike tire with fewer strokes. Everything that we liked about the Lezyne, like the long hose and precise chuck remain the same as the MFD from Lezyne. So if you’re looking for the pump that can get you back on the trail with the fewest pumps, the MFD/XL is your Huckleberry. I’m going to test this bad boy over this coming winter and we’ll file a report after we’ve had the pleasure of testing it, in some ‘real world’ adverse conditions. The Lezyne Micro Floor Drive XL is available now and the MSRP is $60 usd.

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